Before and after...

I love renovations that show "Before and After." Architectural Digest won a loyal reader when they introduced their annual February B&A issue in the 1990s!

Do you see potential in every person or space, or are you more inclined to sigh at a mess and walk away? Are you a person who insists on perfection, or do you think in terms of possibilities and future greatness?

I'm following a couple of blogs with thrifty and creative DIYs, and this morning one popped up that made me smile. For under $500, this couple has fixed up their grandparents' kitchen. Check out the whole story.

I hope this kitchen inspires you to do two things: first, live within your means without compromising style and function. Second, enjoy the present and enhance it with whatever is at your disposal.

• Got a crabby coworker? Tack up an inspiration board to sustain you at work, or cultivate cheerful friends who can balance out the moodiness at the office.
• Got an ugly sofa? Splurge on a fantastic blanket or pillow to perk it up.
• Can't live with the colors in your room? Find some color trends for repainting at Farrow & Ball or other color sites.
• Got a space that's too small or too big? Read blogs like Apartment Therapy and ReNest for ideas on thinking outside your walls.

God lavishly shares his creativity with us. He must enjoy our response to his artistry whenever we view the present in terms of what it could become.

What are we working on? Or what would we like to see changed? Let's be part of the solution, rather than the problem! It might cost us some elbow grease, workshops for new skills, or sincere relationship-building. Let's make the most of what we have this day, so our own Before and After is a success in process tonight!

Read more:
* “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips;
meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7-9 NIV

*Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Psalm 68:19 NIV

*This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15 NIV